Local uses our rich history to help homeless veterans

Bean soup was a staple when the Flint sit-down strikers successfully took on General Motors in 1936 and 1937.

It was a staple for UAW Local 602 recently when it took on the problem of homeless veterans. Local 602, which represents workers at the Lansing (Mich.) Delta Township Assembly plant, held a bean soup fund raiser for the Volunteers of America homeless veterans program.

Steve Bramos, a Vietnam veteran and UAW Local 602 chairman, right, presents a check to the Veterans of America's Patrick Patterson as Bill White, Local 602's veterans chair, looks on. Photo by Joe Vermillion/UAW Local 602.

The fund raiser, which raised $725, was held on White Shirt Day, Feb. 11, the day UAW members and labor movement supporters honor the sit-down strikers.

There was plenty of local media at the event, but that's not why UAW members do what they do. The UAW has always had a strong veterans program, including organizing veterans' stand-downs to raise money and needed items for veterans' hospitals and helping to build two homes for families at the VFW National Home for Children in Eaton Rapids, Mich.

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